Full fat milk with cream in it!

[welly]

Hey all,

My feta from yesterday turned out alright, very pleased. Still needs a bit of work as there's a few things I haven't quite got right (mainly the pressing) but I think batch 3 should be really good.

The milk I was using was full fat non-homogenised milk, the good stuff where you get a load of cream at the top! I just poured it into the pots, cream and all but what I found was when I was warming the milk, the cream kind of separated and settled on the top and eventually I got a little bit of a skin on the milk. Should I give the milk a good shake before I pour it  in the pot to mix up the cream or is it fine as it was?

Thanks!

[welly]

Actually, just further to this, I did add in some calcium chloride but I've since read that for non-homogenised milk it's not necessary?

[Stinky]

So, what calcium chloride is, is, well, calcium. Concise, right? The way I understand it, in the process of pasteurization a decent amount of calcium is removed. The calcium chloride is put in to counter that. This also helps the curd-cutting, as the curds will be firmer. Some companies market it as just there to help the curds to set, but that's just part of the picture. So while it's not needed in raw milk, I'd still put it in your pasteurized yet not homogenized milk.

Something else about calcium: Put some in brines. The cheese has more calcium than the water, but if you don't add any to the brine, then calcium seeps out of the cheese, and sometimes makes the outside of the cheese slippery. It also results in the cheese being softer.

Another note about the brine. Put in a little bit of vinegar, just enough to correct the pH to that of the cheese. Make any sense?

[WovenMeadows]

Re: CaCl and pasteurization, I made a 7 gallon batch of Butterkase yesterday, but wanted to try it very young so I pasteurized the milk first (our own cow's milk). I was making this with the milk spread between 2 20qt pots - one pot I hit 145 degrees thereabouts, the other I overshot and brought it up to 160 or so; let both rest for 30 minutes though. Consequently, after I had renneted and cut, one pot had a much softer, weaker curd - the pot that was overheated. I hadn't added CaCl to either one though, but I found this a pretty good illustration of the effects of heat on Ca and curd strength!

[scasnerkay]

The cream will rise as the pan of milk is ripening, so I give it a good stirring before adding the calcium or the rennet. In a class I attended we did several trials of coagulation with and without calcium added, to milk which had been deeply chilled, or homogenized, or non homogenized. Calcium is such an inexpensive and easy insurance for good curd set, I even use it when I have raw milk. I use a little (1/2 tsp) on 4 gallons raw milk. I use 1 tsp on 4 gallons pasteurized non-homogenized milk.

[Frodage]

Hi Susan,
For my recent gorgonzola escapade, the recipe doesn't include calcium chloride, so I haven't added it. But I have been sorely tempted. I'm using skim milk and adding 35% cream to it. Do you think I should add the calcium chloride to it? What would be the effect? More mould growth?

[scasnerkay]

Hi Jim, I did add calcium to the blue I made, and had nice firm curd. That is all the calcium is for as I understand it... To help with making good curd set. You are making your own "cream top", so it is in essence not homogenized. I do use calcium when making my own cream top such as you did, or if I purchase milk which has not been homogenized. Like I said, it is cheap insurance for a good curd set, and I am not aware of any down side. It will not change mould growth, just the firmness of the curd.